Hiroki, Yanks salvage split

ARLINGTON, Texas — Mariano Rivera was honored on the field before his final game in Texas — and was fittingly on the mound to end it.

The Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas — Mariano Rivera was honored on the field before his final game in Texas — and was fittingly on the mound to end it.

After getting an appropriate gift of cowboy boots from the Rangers before the game, Rivera pitched the ninth inning for the save in a 2-0 victory for the Yankees after Hiroki Kuroda threw seven scoreless innings Thursday.

"He's Mo. Every time I go out there and he comes in, I'm excited more so than any point in the game," said rookie catcher Austin Romine, who had a career-high three hits and scored the first run. "To catch a guy that's done it day in and day out for a long time. ... Everybody looks, everybody watches and they see how it's done."

The boots given to Rivera were inscribed with the Yankees logo, his name and No. 42. They were presented by John Wetteland, who before becoming the Rangers' career saves leader was the Yankees closer and was set up by Rivera during their 1996 World Series championship season.

Rivera was also given a cowboy hat delivered by Texas closer Joe Nathan, a Pine Bush graduate who had the save in last week's All-Star Game after Rivera pitched the eighth.

With the Yankees struggling to score runs — they had only eight runs while managing to split the four-game series — they need pitching like they keep getting from Kuroda (10-6), even if wasn't convinced he had an overly impressive outing.

Kuroda scattered six hits and had three strikeouts with one walk. The right-hander threw 100 pitches on a warm day, though overcast conditions kept the temperature in the low 90s — about 10 degrees cooler than originally forecast. He is 3-0 with a 0.69 ERA in four July starts.

"I don't I had any particular pitch that was working well, and from the get-go I didn't have a good outing," Kuroda said through an interpreter. "But I think I was able to get big outs and have a decent outing."

David Robertson worked a 1-2-3 eighth before Rivera took over in the ninth. Rivera allowed an infield single before getting his 33rd save of the season to extend his career record to 641. It was Rivera's 40th career save against Texas.

It was the sixth shutout victory this season for the Yankees.

The Yankees led for good when Brent Lillibridge's RBI double in the sixth made it 1-0 off Derek Holland (8-6), who pitched into the eighth.